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GRANDE GUSTO®

Optimize your sauces, soups and dips with natural dairy ingredients.

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Our Grande Gusto® reduced-lactose, whey protein ingredients are tailored to optimize the quality of your sauce, soup or dip production and maximize your raw material use. Use them and you’ll produce products with all the sensory properties that consumers expect with optimized nutrition and cost.

Rich, flavorful and savory cheese- and cheese powder-based sauces, dips and soups are sought after by consumers as the ultimate comfort food, yet health-conscious consumers worry about how these products could impact their focus on health  and well-being.

All-natural Grande Gusto products are innovative, clean-label ingredients that will help maintain the signature velvety texture and umami flavor that consumers love!

gusto

Key Product Attributes


  • Enriches texture and mouthfeel
  • Rich, dairy flavor
  • Improves nutrition
  • Clean label
  • Shelf-stable
  • 18-month shelf life
  • Freeze-thaw stable
  • Durable and easily incorporated into existing food production systems

Gusto 100

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Grande Gusto® 100 can help food formulators reduce the amount of natural and processed cheese in fluid sauces, dips and soups while still delivering the same cheesy goodness that consumers love with reduced fat, sodium, calories and cost.

Gusto 100 Ideal Applications Include:

  • Kettle-Cooked Cheese-Based Sauces
  • Ready-to-Heat Macaroni and Cheese
  • Ready-to-Heat Cheese-Based Rice or Noodle Side Dishes
  • Ready-to-Heat Cheese-Based Soups

Gusto 100 Key Product Attributes:

  • Improves texture with creamy mouthfeel
  • Reduces amount of cheese
  • Improves nutrition: reduces sodium, fat and calories
  • Adds rich dairy flavor with sweet, savory notes

Gusto 200

a-slice-of-bread-in-a-bowl-of-soupGrande Gusto® 200 can help food formulators deliver that velvety, cheese-like mouthfeel in dry powder mix sauces, dips and soups, often with improved nutrition and cost.

Gusto 200 Ideal Applications Include:

  • Cheese Powder-Based Sauces
  • Cheese Powder-Based Soups
  • Ready-to-Mix Macaroni and Cheese
  • Ready-to-Mix Rice or Noodle Side Dishes

Gusto 200 Key Product Attributes:

  • Improves texture with velvety, cheese-like mouthfeel
  • Reduces the amount of cheese powder
  • Improves nutrition by reducing sodium
  • Adds rich dairy flavor with tangy, savory notes

 

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Certifications & Labeling

  • SQF Certifications for Food Safety and Quality
  • USPH Grade A
  • USDA
  • EU
  • Kosher Dairy
  • Halal
  • Ingredient statement: “Reduced Lactose Whey. Contains Milk.”
Gusto_Characteristics_Chart_2022

 

Frequently Asked Questions

Gusto is derived from the cheesemaking process. We use a proprietary method to remove lactose from the whey through physical separation means. Spray drying is then used to remove water without the use of chemicals, resulting in a clean label manufacturing process.

When surveyed, roughly half of consumers indicate they are “very receptive” to purchasing reduced lactose whey. It is one of the topmost appealing ingredients to purchase and is more likely to be perceived as “clean label” than several other ingredients, trailing only behind cornstarch and whey protein concentrate.

Gusto 100 has savory notes that shine through even though there’s reduced sodium, fat and calories, allowing for savory flavors and creamy textures that are ideal for cheesy formulas. 

In one controlled study, Gusto 100 went up against a full-fat macaroni and cheese formulation. The application with Gusto 100 had 30% less cheese, yet outperformed the control for taste, creaminess and nutrition.

Gusto 200 also improves flavor with its tangy dairy notes. It reduces sodium in powdered cheese and dry mix applications by 10% or more.

When compared with the control in one study, it outperformed for texture, flavor and mouthfeel due, in part, to its superior water-holding properties.

At Grande Custom Ingredients Group, all of our products are made following a strict chain of custody and production process that uses zero chemical modifications, additives, preservatives or antibiotics. These all-natural and sustainable products are recognized and accepted by consumers.

With Gusto, food manufacturers can lower ingredient costs on formulations like cheese soups and sauces by replacing a portion of the cheese or dry cheese powder. Its reliable availability and stable pricing eliminate concerns over supply chain issues and volatile cheese market prices. In addition, because Gusto 100 and 200 are dry ingredients that are shelf-stable and require no refrigeration, they help to minimize energy use, storage costs and spoilage.

Many alternative ingredients used in cheese formulations, such as potassium chloride, yeast extracts, maltodextrin and MSG can result in off-flavors, syneresis or gritty and unappetizing textures. They’re also not perceived as clean label by many consumers. Because of Grande’s proprietary process to create Gusto products, they not only maintain a formulation’s natural consistency, but they also have been shown to improve texture and mouthfeel when compared in controlled studies.

Grande Gusto products are ideal for a variety of applications, such as cheese-based soups, sauces, dips and sides. Gusto 100 works best in fluid applications whereas Gusto 200 works best in dry powder applications. Both products incorporate easily into existing food systems.

Consumer Perceptions of Sodium

Consumers are intensifying their search for healthy foods, and sodium is coming under added scrutiny. So, how are food formulators to achieve a savory flavor that doesn’t have a chemical taste that turns them off – especially when it comes to their favorites, like creamy mac ‘n’ cheese?

Download our guide, Increased Consumer Demand for Reduced Sodium, to learn more.